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Guest
Guest
Right now, dynamic pricing is looking like a complete failure. Players who have not brought over truckloads of items are unable to compete in the market for EA catalog items because retail prices of items are far in excess of the money making capabilities of players.
Stores which focus on selling catalog items are purely competitive. They all sell the exact same thing, and so there is no quality-based reason for a shopper to shop anywhere but the cheapest place. Stores know this, and usually sell their items close to the maximum discount they receive so they can keep with the market value of their items.
The problem right now is that the players are not able to set the market price for items. How much would you pay for a craft bench? $5k? $10k? $100k?
EA says that their system is based off of supply and demand. In a sense, it is. However, it is far from a free market. EA is setting the prices, not the player.
Below is a crude sketch up of the above example that I made.
For those who don't understand, I'll clarify. Line D represents the consumer demand for craft benches. Line S represents the supply of craft benches. As you move across line D from left to right, in conjunction with the two axes, you will see that very few to no craft benches are demanded at 6k (these numbers are entirely made up, but they illustrate the same point). However, as the price goes down, consumer demand raises dramatically. As you move along line S, you will see that stores (suppliers) will supply less craft benches at a lower cost, because they are unlikely to make a profit. However, as the price gets goes up, their likelihood to sell them goes up.
The red line represents the intersection of supply and demand. This is where the average cost is. People should expect to pay on average a little over 3k for a craft bench. However, EA's price is over 6k, which is far more than anyone is willing to pay for a craft bench.
In all actuality, these numbers are too gracious for the system in place. EA's price is 100k, and the market value for a craft bench would likely be close to 3k. In the above example, players, if they desperately needed a bench, could manage to make the extra 3k to buy it even if they didn't want to. However, in the current system, one could work for months at the robot factory and not even accrue enough funds to buy a work bench. At EA's price, they are simply unattainable.
Many players were established before this system of pricing came into the game. They are likely holding onto their craft benches in spite of them breaking all the time due to age and wear. Newer players are probably unlikely to get craft benches, or other high priced items.
What we need is a way to get the EA price down, because it is keeping people from participating in the economy. I have a few ideas...
1.) A maximum number of repairs on a particular item
After 10 - 20 repairs, an item becomes "destroyed" and is no longer able to be repaired. It can be salvaged, however, at a better rate than a new item. It would require players to purchase more new items and help to weed out the excess number of items.
2.) Readjustment of the pricing calculator
Fix the calculation of prices. Currently, it is not representative for the number of people in the game.
3.) Do away with dynamic pricing as it currently exists
My favorite of the options. Don't get me wrong, I think the idea is great, but it is flawed heavily. It does not subscribe to the basic principles of economics at all. In a purely competitive market, like the one we have in EAL, prices are not set based upon the quantity of items that exist, but rather by the willingness of consumers to buy, and sellers to sell.
This method of pricing was introduced to encourage players to buy the lesser used items. It does not work! There are no substitutes for many of the job and skill items, pets, beds, and misc items! You cannot purchase an alternative cheaper version to help "balance the types of items in the game" because such alternatives simply aren't there.
Dynamic pricing needs to be removed. At current, it would be best to go back to the old system of pricing. Hopefully if we get rid of it, we can move forward with a new system that removes that catalog, and subscribes to real economics.
Stores which focus on selling catalog items are purely competitive. They all sell the exact same thing, and so there is no quality-based reason for a shopper to shop anywhere but the cheapest place. Stores know this, and usually sell their items close to the maximum discount they receive so they can keep with the market value of their items.
The problem right now is that the players are not able to set the market price for items. How much would you pay for a craft bench? $5k? $10k? $100k?
EA says that their system is based off of supply and demand. In a sense, it is. However, it is far from a free market. EA is setting the prices, not the player.
Below is a crude sketch up of the above example that I made.
For those who don't understand, I'll clarify. Line D represents the consumer demand for craft benches. Line S represents the supply of craft benches. As you move across line D from left to right, in conjunction with the two axes, you will see that very few to no craft benches are demanded at 6k (these numbers are entirely made up, but they illustrate the same point). However, as the price goes down, consumer demand raises dramatically. As you move along line S, you will see that stores (suppliers) will supply less craft benches at a lower cost, because they are unlikely to make a profit. However, as the price gets goes up, their likelihood to sell them goes up.
The red line represents the intersection of supply and demand. This is where the average cost is. People should expect to pay on average a little over 3k for a craft bench. However, EA's price is over 6k, which is far more than anyone is willing to pay for a craft bench.
In all actuality, these numbers are too gracious for the system in place. EA's price is 100k, and the market value for a craft bench would likely be close to 3k. In the above example, players, if they desperately needed a bench, could manage to make the extra 3k to buy it even if they didn't want to. However, in the current system, one could work for months at the robot factory and not even accrue enough funds to buy a work bench. At EA's price, they are simply unattainable.
Many players were established before this system of pricing came into the game. They are likely holding onto their craft benches in spite of them breaking all the time due to age and wear. Newer players are probably unlikely to get craft benches, or other high priced items.
What we need is a way to get the EA price down, because it is keeping people from participating in the economy. I have a few ideas...
1.) A maximum number of repairs on a particular item
After 10 - 20 repairs, an item becomes "destroyed" and is no longer able to be repaired. It can be salvaged, however, at a better rate than a new item. It would require players to purchase more new items and help to weed out the excess number of items.
2.) Readjustment of the pricing calculator
Fix the calculation of prices. Currently, it is not representative for the number of people in the game.
3.) Do away with dynamic pricing as it currently exists
My favorite of the options. Don't get me wrong, I think the idea is great, but it is flawed heavily. It does not subscribe to the basic principles of economics at all. In a purely competitive market, like the one we have in EAL, prices are not set based upon the quantity of items that exist, but rather by the willingness of consumers to buy, and sellers to sell.
This method of pricing was introduced to encourage players to buy the lesser used items. It does not work! There are no substitutes for many of the job and skill items, pets, beds, and misc items! You cannot purchase an alternative cheaper version to help "balance the types of items in the game" because such alternatives simply aren't there.
Dynamic pricing needs to be removed. At current, it would be best to go back to the old system of pricing. Hopefully if we get rid of it, we can move forward with a new system that removes that catalog, and subscribes to real economics.
